Mine
by DearJanuary
Summary: Series of one shots involving the men of Degrassi and their daughters. (Ratings will very, but anything over K will be stated)
1. Owen

Returning through the front door of his home in Etobicoke, Ontario, Owen pulled his hands from the pockets of his well worn dress pants and stopped dead in his tracks at two suitcases packed in the corner of the entrance way along with three labeled and concealed cardboard boxes. He wasn't surprised by them, he was well aware that this was what he would be coming home to after being away on a two week coaching seminar in Minnesota. It was the way the bags were waiting for him, how they looked cloaked in the darkness of the room, and exactly what they symbolized that really upset Owen.

His stomach sank while his blood boiled within and Owen hadn't known the two could happen at the same time before. While he and his wife had been struggling over the last year and worse so hockey season started, but he had expected her to at least be there and waiting when he returned. She had told him that she would pack his things and he could move out swiftly upon his return from The US, but Owen had still simply assumed that she would be waiting and they would be able to talk about the separation before they actually separated.

Sighing, he rubbed his hand over his mouth and felt the exhaustion from the flight take over his body. He could have fallen asleep against the door easily if he just shut his dark eyes. He may have been standing inside his own house, but he knew he wasn't supposed to be there right now, that he wasn't welcomed. So, he ignored his tired bones and went over to his corner of things, bending at the knees to pick up the top box marked 'Owen - Kitchen'. Even though he and his wife were going through their problems, he knew she would be kind enough to not leave him high and dry. They had been friends for so long and married for four and a half years, the least she could do was be civil. As soon as Owen turned to go back outside, he realized he wasn't alone. At the bottom step of the staircase stood Eva Mulligan, dressed in her two piece Miss Piggy pyjamas. A gift from her a uncle Tristan that were still just a smidgen too big for her tiny size.

"You're going already?" Her voice was a quiet squeak. The little girl knew she was supposed to be sleeping, but it was the day her Dad came home and she hadn't seen him off a computer screen in what felt like ages. Without a concept of time, two weeks felt like a year to Eva. It would be unreasonable for a girl of three to be able to not stay awake in anticipation. Besides, she had so many questions that her mother wasn't properly asking. Before Owen could answer his daughter, she continued, "You just got here." Eva held onto the rail with both of her miniature hands and helped herself down to the carpeted ground.

"I know, but…" Owe was so happy to see Eva again, his small partner in crime with dark fudge locks, and the last thing he wanted to do was disappoint his girl by leaving again. He didn't have much of a choice though. His wife was miserable in their marriage and Owenw anted to respect her enough to give her what she wanted - time and space apart. Eva might not understand it now, but Owen knew he and his wife needed that. The toddler would benefit from it, even if it was painful. Owen reminded himself that this was only temporary. It wasn't cast in stone. He could very well be back in his own home with the family he made even a short while.

"Mom says you have to go stay with Gram-na." She mispronounced and saved her father the trouble of having to come up with a child appropriate version of the truth. Owen had considered telling his little girl that he was going to coach elsewhere, but it didn't feel right to lie to his kid. He didn't want to teach her that. He was going to go stay at his Mom's for a while, and then, maybe, a hotel or at his little brother's. "Why?" Eva continued.

"Because…" Owen wasn't sure what to say next. Eva was standing there, looking up at him with huge blue eyes that could swallow someone whole, just waiting for her Dad to answer. Owen had coached a handful of hardheaded and smug hockey players, visited countries all over the world, trained broken bones, but answering his daughter felt like the most challenging thing yet.

"Because…" Once more, Owen reminded himself that this was only temporary and put down the box to his side before kneeling close to Eva and looking at her with intensity and sincerity. "Eva," Softly, he started and took both her hands in one of his. "Mommy and I are going to spend a little time away from each other." He hoped that if he kept his voice gentle, Eva would react better to the news. He didn't know exactly what his wife had told their daughter already. "Just for a little bit." Owen added at the end, but mostly for himself. He didn't like to think of it as a step towards divorce, it was only a separation. People could reunite from those.

"But you just got home." Eva whined. A trial separation was a foreign concept to someone Eva's age. All she understood was her Dad had gone away, come back, and was now leaving again.

"I'm going to see you, don't worry." He used his free hand to straighten out her pj top over her small belly as it threatened to roll up. "I'm going to take you to your skating lesson the day after tomorrow." Eva had yet to learn the order of the days of the week yet, so it was easier for Owen to say it that way. He was about to wrap his arms around his daughter, ask her how she was feeling, but Owen saw a light reflect from upstairs and he knew his wife must have heard Eva awake or his voice. That was the worst part about big houses, sound carried. "You need to go back to bed, though. It's late." It was 9 PM.

Eva was just about to turn around and battle the stairs again. Owen swallowed the growing lump in his throat and closed his eyes to bury any chance of tears even threatening to slip out.

"Wait, Eva," He called for his son to turn around. His arms were wide open and impatiently waiting to devour the little girl in a big bear hug. He held her tiny body in his grasp and for a moment, Owen actually considered trying to wrap her up and take her along with the boxes. Would his wife even notice? Of course she would. "I love you, Munchkin…" He whispered into each one of Eva's ears once and inhaled through his nose as the tears defeated him and fell down his face. He couldn't help, but feel like something of a failure.

"You don't have to go, Daddy." Eva managed to let slip from his pink lips, even though her dad was crushing her with his hug so strong. Owen leaned back for a moment to see his kid's pouting yet hopeful face. She thought, maybe, if she said it, her dad would stay. "I'll be good." She softly promised, thinking it could only help.

"I love you." Owen said once more, whispering it like a secret. "I'll call you tomorrow morning." He jet out his lips like he had been since Eva was a newborn and waited for her to kiss him, her warm hands flattening out over his stubble covered cheeks.

"Love you, Daddy." Eva started to pitter patter away. "Safe drive." She fumbled out before taking the railing again and helping herself up onto the first step.

Watching, Owen smiled at how precious his girl was and contemplated if he could really take any credit for that at all. His wife was the one who spent most of her time with Eva, she brought her to the day care she worked at everyday. Things had worked well when his wife didn't have a job, but she had a degree in education and refused to let it go to waste, so when Eva turned three, she decided to go to back. Of course, Owen supported his wife and it was time for her to pursue her own dream, but her hours weren't flexible and neither was his life. It made it impossible for them to spend any time together, quality or not. Eventually, Owen just stopped calling when he was away and just did when he felt like it and she wasn't going to stand idly by and accept that attitude.

As soon as he arrived home, he was completely punched in the stomach with how much he actually missed her and his family. He liked having his own family and he was proud of what he and his wife had accomplished together, but every success came with a failure. She knew things weren't working and she needed to figure out what was best. It didn't really make any sense to Owen at first, if they serene problem that required fixing, why was she so desperate for him to leave?

_This is only temporary_. He thought as he picked up the box by his feet and listened as upstairs his wife helped Eva back into bed and to sleep.


	2. Jake

Nothing was open for negotiation. He had said no. Explicitly and clearly, no. I'm fact, he remembered telling her 'no' six times. His daughter was not deaf, so he knew that she had heard him and deliberately disobeyed him anyway. Since his longtime girlfriend and Anna's mother was out of town to celebrate her sister's bachelorette party, Jake was left to his own devices.

Foolishly, the first thing he did after finding his daughter's bedroom window open and letting in a harsh October breeze was call her cell phone as if she would actually answer. He stormed through their small bungalow, stuffing his feet into his sneakers, and pulling on his warm army green coat. Jake thought only of barring her bedroom window and nailing a lock onto her door as he did. The angry thoughts subsided once he was behind the wheel of his pickup. He hated driving after a long day of work, especially on Friday nights with the traffic on high, but Jake was too busy worrying about Anna's whereabouts and who she would be with. It had only been recently that his daughter started being more defiant and stubborn. When she was really little, his biggest concern was keeping her out of the shed where he kept his power tools, but now the whole world was a war zone that he had to navigate her through. Unfortunately, she wanted only to make her own mistakes and figure it out later. At fourteen years of age, Anna Martin was all about having fun.

Before taking a right to head into Toronto from Aurora, where he lived, Jake drove into his best friend's neighbourhood. He needed the address of where Anna was and had a Mo's son would know. The kids were in high school now and running with different crowds, but Jake had an inkling Anna still told Mikhail Mashkour everything about her life.

A mirror reflection of his father, Mikhail sat hunched over the wooden dinner table Jake made years ago, looking down shamefully at his hands between his knees. He wished more than anything that he could be back in his bedroom, listening to classic rock, and playing World of Warcraft. He couldn't escape from his godfather though, not when his own parents were standing by behind him and Jake's eyes were twitching with frustration.

"Anna didn't mention a party to you?" By the sink, his mother tried to help the interrogation process along.

"She said it was a Halloween thing." Jake pulled up his own chair closer to Mikhail, trying to be patient, but he didn't want to waste any time. He realized that Mikhail probably felt a sense of loyalty to Anna and didn't want to rat her out, but right now, Mikhail was Jake's only source. He wasn't above knocking on every single door in Toronto if he had to - it just seemed a little extreme.

"Anna and I don't hang out in the same crowds anymore." He shrugged simply. Mikhail liked computer games and Van Halen while Anna subscribed to Cosmpolitan magazine and ezine and rode horseback.

"You still talk though. I thought, maybe..."

"I don't go to parties." The teenager tried to make himself even clearer. "People don't tell me about them." Sure, he heard rumblings, but Mikhail was well aware hat he wasn't welcomed.

"Jake, man, I'm sorry, but I really think we can't help you." Mo understood what his son was saying. He had been just like him in high school after all, so he tried to wrap things up before Mikhail had to come right out and call himself a 'loser'. "We will call if we hear anything." Mo was even debating asking their ten year old daughter if she knew where Anna was. She was a bit more social than her brother.

"Who does she hang out with now, Mick?" Jake wasn't giving up. He knew his daughter had new friends, mostly girls, but he hadn't taken the time to learn their names. If Mikhail couldn't give him any answers, he would have to track down one of the girls she took horseback riding with, but Jake doubted she knew anyone that Anna went to school with.

"Kelsey Wheeler, Dia McCool, and the Jenny's." After curling his upper lip and wiggling up his nose, Mikhail remembered. He didn't like any of those girls even if Dia was a major babe. Mikhail thought Anna was too awesome to waste her time with them, but she seemed to be the one skipping over to them after every other period.

They were just names to Jake, but he tried to mentally remember them. They could be helpful.

"Do you have any of their numbers?" He tried.

"I wish!" Mikhail scoffed, causing both his parents to scoff quietly.

Jake looked over his godson's shoulder and glared at his old high school friends for a moment before his cell phone began to vibrate in the pocket of his ripped up work jeans. He hoped it was his wife. He had called her while driving and left her a message to get a hold of him if she could get a hold of Anna. A part of him though Anna might pick up for her mother since she was out of town, but instead Clare's number was flashing on his screen. He excused himself from the table and answered as soon as he was on his two feet.

"Hey, did you get a hold of Anna?" His words fell over one another, racing to exit his mouth.

"Not quite." Clare tried three times, but she hadn't had any luck reaching her niece yet. "But I just remembered, she has been talking a lot about a boy named Gino lately. Gino with a very Italian last name." Clare used all the skills she had learned from years of being a reporter to her advantage. The boy seemed like a lead to follow to her. "Fourteen year old girl, Halloween party, big crush...it makes sense to me." She told her stepbrother, kneeing that he wouldn't like what she was saying.

Jake just groaned, dropping his head and putting pressure of the bridge of his nose with his free hand. He hoped she wasn't right, but knew in his gut that this was probably all over a boy. Jake had told his daughter she couldn't go out before and it hadn't resolved in her climbing out a window. After thanking Clare, he put away his phone and slowly went back to Mikhail, who was searching for a snack in the fridge.

"Is there a kid named Gino at your school?" He nodded his chin right at Mikhail, his head turning like a deer in the headlights.

"Gino Bassanelli. He's a super senior, should have graduated last year." Mikhail laughed. He was a smart kid and since he hadn't hat over popularity, he found enjoyment in the stupidity of the cool kids. Smugly, he smiled, not realizing how much Jake's stomach was turning.

"Do you have this kid's number or anything?" He doubted it, but luckily, Marisol jumped in with her cell phone already out in her hands.

"I'm on the PTA with Bassanelli. Could be his mother." She found the number in her phone and held it up to her once dialled, her one arm folded under her bust as she listened to it ring.

In the town over, Newmarket, Gino Bassanelli was attending a Halloween party at a girl named Jenny Lincoln's house. It was enough information for Jake to jump back in his truck and head that way. Mrs. Bassanelli said that she knew the Lincoln's lived right by the mall, but wasn't sure what house number. Jake didn't want to wait for her to figure it out though. He thanked his friends and left, his heart racing and the idea of composure completely absent from his usual levelheaded brain.

The house was easier than he thought it would be to fine. Girls clad in Halloween inspired miniskirts and animal ears were practically falling out of the loud two story and onto the lawn while guys clutching plastic cups were splattered around every area like paint on a child's canvas. The mall was merely a block away, Jake figured this had to be it. Tires screeching, he parked on the street and stalked into the house, dance music screaming like it was on fire throughout it. He heard ignorant groans and laughter as he headed up the driveway, but it didn't stop him. He paid the teenage idiots no mind at all.

"Whoa, man, you can't be in here." A senior threw his open palms down on Jake's chest, knowing a party pooper when he spotted one. Jake just pushed his hands right off of him and kept going further into the jam packed house. He had no idea how he would find his daughter in the mess of teenagers, but hoped he had some sort of fatherly intuition to lead him around. His wife always jabbered on about maternal instincts.

After covering the entire first floor and even peeking in the pantry, Jake wore it off. There was still the backyard where kids were smoking in clusters and using the jacuzzi tub, the basement that seemed to be where the better music was hiding, and the dreaded upstairs where the bedrooms were located. Jake gulped over the hard lump in his throat and headed over to the stairs. As he hustled up the stairs, beside superhero clad boys and girls in dresses they must have stolen from their kid sister's, Jake spotted a leggy blond in a revealing school girl costume that he would had liked for his wife to wear sometime. He recognized the girl. She was one of his daughter's new friends.

"Hey, hey, you!" He shouted after her, jogging over a passed out jock and reaching for the girl's shoulder. Jake had forgotten he was the only adult there for a moment, but it clicked as soon as the girl spun around and looked at him with pure disgust and a small trace of fear in her eyes. "You're friends with Anna. Have you seen her?" He tried to speak over the music, his panic evident.

"Um, I don't know." The girl pulled on one of her pigtails, looking conflicted as she shifted her hazel eyes from left to right.

"I'm her Dad. It's very important I see her."

After a moment more of debating it, the young blond sighed and tilted her head to the left as if to tell him to follow her lead.

"Don't freak out, okay?" She told him more than she asked and opened up a white door to reveal the master bedroom. A naked boy, pasty and thin, was mounting a girl on the bed, her bare behind up high while her head was somewhere between all the pillows. Jake looked away quickly, but not before making sure it wasn't his daughter but he could tell by how obviously tanned the girl was that she didn't belong to him.

The blond he was following who the boy having sex had greeted as Kelsey knocked on the walk in closet door and moments later it opened up, a large cloud of smoke fleeing the room followed by a round of cold coughs.

A group of teenager sat underneath designer garments, two joints being passed around, alcohol filled cups by their sides while playing cards and pieces of costumes were thrown around the hardwood floor. Between the open legs of a boy, clearly Italian, and dressed as a zombie Tom Cruise in Risky Business, was Anna Martin with more makeup than he had ever seen her wear. Luckily, she wasn't dressed in anything that could double as nightwear. She just had on short summer dress and cat ears, but that was beyond the point. He recognized the glass over her eyes and his heart dropped. While Jake was thrilled his daughter was alright, he was cross that she had disobeyed him and was behaving the way that she was. He had had his fun in high school, but he never did anything to piss off his parents. He always considered himself very respectful when all was said and done.

The smoke cleared more and more and Anna Martin's eyes managed to grow some as her father stood in the doorway before her, dressed authentically as a furious father.

"Oh my God." She went to jump onto her her feet, but fumbled uneasily. Laughing, the boy she had been leaning on out his hand over her knees and helped her find some balance. Out from behind the dresses, a hand held out one of Anna's shoes, a black pump that belonged to her mother. Anna knew she was going to get in trouble, but she didn't think her Dad would find her tonight.

"Don't freak out." Kelsey told him again, this time standing stern. She walked into the closet that reeked of skunk and nestled up against a blond who was hiding a joint behind his beer can.

"Let's go." Through grit teeth, he managed to mutter at his daughter. He had never been disappointed in her before, but he hated the feeling as it washed slowly through his stream. What happened to the sweet girl who liked watching her dad build patios or only ever wanted to be around horses? He knew this was typical. This was puberty. Jake just couldn't see himself ever being okay with it.

Anna out her shoes back on and slowly left, waving goodbye to her "friends". Before a he could walk by her dad, Jake grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her out of the master bedroom completely.

"This is so embarrassing, Dad." Anna hissed glaring at him the way he had her when the smoke first cleared from the closet.

"Oh, I know. Trust me, I'm embarrassed." He tried walking around the crowd of party people to get to the staircase, but there seemed to be more people than before. It was especially hard with his tipsy daughter unable to move in a straight line. Sighing deeply, Jake let go of Anna's arm only to pick her up by the waist and carry her on her chest over his shoulder. He held her with one arm and used his left hand to keep her dress over her butt so none of the guys that filled the house could catch so much of a glimpse of her behind. Anna did not react well. Her hands flailed around in a fit as she squeaked about him being awful and humiliating, but Jake couldn't have cared any less. He was focused on getting them both out of the house, into his truck, and home where he would begin on building a tower right away. He had wanted to when Anna was three and a bratty boy from the apartment they lived in at the time pushed her off, but his wife had told him to 'chill' simply.

"Put me down!" Anna screamed as soon as they were out the door and Jake complied. "You can't even be mad at me! I know you did all of this when you were my age. You still smoke pot!" Anna had both her arms thrown out at her sides, but quickly clenched herself due to being cold.

"Let's go, Anna." He simply said, already starting to walk away. He stopped himself when he realized she wasn't following. Jake peeled his jacket off of himself and went back to put it over her bare arms. He could handle being cold, but he didn't want Anna to get sick.

Finally, Anna started to follow her Dad down the driveway, the snickering of kids around her making her never want to go back to school.

"Anna!" Huffing and puffing, the zombie Tom Cruise fled out the house and caught up with the two Martin's. "Hi Mr. Anna's dad..." He started, wiping the sticky dried alcohol from his hand on his yellow boxers before reaching out to shake Jake's hand, but he declined. "I can drive Anna home, ya know? She was okay in my hands." He laughed bombastically. His words caused Anna to smile somehow, but Jake wasn't amused at all.

"You're drunk." Jake stated, looking him up and down. "You really think I'm going to agree to let my kid get in the car with somebody who is stoned and drunk?" He stepped closer, pulling Anna by her arm again.

"Hey, don't...don't..." The kid tried to swat Jake's grip off of Anna, but he was terribly unsuccessful. "Let's all just chill, man."

"Don't touch her." Jake shook his head at the kid. "Don't come near Anna, okay? When you have some respect for her life and well being, you can come over and you can introduce yourself and then, maybe, I'll let her get in your car." Jake let go of Anna just in order to step up in the drunk kid's face and really let him know who was running the show.

"Oh my god, kill me now." Under her breath, Anna prayed with shut eyes. As her Dad started to walk away, she went with him too, only turning around to wave discreetly to the boy she was crazy about at the moment.

"Whatever. I'll still get her in the backseat!" Ballsy, the boy shouted with a cocky laugh.  
"Anna. Get in the car, the keys in my coat." He whispered to his daughter. "Now."

Jake headed swiftly to the kid who was too busy laughing and walking to the door to know what was coming for him. He curled his callused and overworked fingers around the collar of the kid's shirt and tossed him into the hard lawn with a gratifying thud.

"You tough now?!" He shouted down at the kid. "Don't fucking mess with me. Or my kid." Confident he had now made his point clear as crystal, Jake left. He saw his daughter's face horrified in the passenger seat and climbed in behind the wheel and left.

The truck ride was silent, not even the radio turned on, as Jake tried to scour through his anger enough to figure out what to say to Anna.

"Dad, I'm - " As quiet as she was sheepish, she began. She kept her eyes down, staring at the goosebumps that lined his arms.

"Jesus, Anna! Anna Kendal Martin, what were you thinking?! If I say no to you, why do you think that is? Do you think I want to embarrass you or make your life miserable? Do you think I'm just being a jerk?" He was fired up now. "I knew that there would be assholes like that at this thing, that's why I said no. It's my job to keep you safe and I take my job fucking seriously!" His nostrils flared as his hands tightened on the leather wheel.

"Gino isn't a loser." She whispered, not really trying to convince her dad.

"Anna, you're fourteen. You don't need a guy in your life," Besides him. "Not a loser like that." He sighed. "Stop trying to grow up so fast. It's going to happen on its own."

In defeat, Anna hugged herself tighter under her dad's jacket, her kitten ears resting on her lap.

"And I want you to start hanging out with Mikhail again. He's a... cool kid." Jake instructed, almost hearing his daughter's eyes roll.

"Dad, we have different lives." She whined.

"Well, your life is about to become a lot more open. You're grounded and only school partners and Mikhail are allowed as friends for the next month."

After punishment was laid out, silence took over again.

Jake pulled into the garage slowly, sighing with exasperation as he did. Anna was already hopping out of the passenger seat before he had even shut off the engine.

"Hey!" He called while stepping out from behind the wheel and waved at her to come back once he saw that he had her attention. Anna refused to give him eye contact, but Jake just chuckled. He leaned up against his truck door and tried to unwind. "Anna, I love you. It doesn't matter the stunts you pull, I'll always love you and be there for you. Just don't disrespect yourself for the attention of others, okay?" Softly, he told her and hoped she would understand. "You're way too special to be some girl in a closet."

"You have to say that. You're my dad." To her shoes, she mumbled.

Leaning forward, Jake kissed the top of her dirty blond head and then locked his truck while heading into the house. He felt ready to crash after a day of serious parenting. It really was the job that never quit.

Jake sat down on the couch with a cup of tea and watched the news highlights in the dark. After showering all the makeup and pot stench off her body, Anna tip toed into the den behind him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning around the couch and snuggling close.

"You're still grounded." Jake laughed. "And I still got to tell your Mom."

"I just wanted to say sorry, Dad." She said and let go of him. "And that I love you...even if you are super embarrassing."


End file.
